Thousand Miles from Home
by Ergelina
Summary: Being reborn as Maito Gai's older sister was something no one should ever look forward to, and I certainly didn't, however, here I am – attempting to survive my new personal hell as his beloved older sister. Oh God, why couldn't you just have sent me directly to hell? [OCx?]
1. A youthful hell!

**Thousand Miles from Home**

**Description: **

Being reborn as Maito Gai's older sister was something no one should ever look forward to, and I certainly didn't, however, here I am – attempting to survive my new personal hell as his beloved older sister. Oh God, why couldn't you just have sent me directly to hell?

[No official pairing as of yet, follows plot-line from Manga and Anime]

**Chapter 1: **

The thing about reincarnation is that you cannot choose where you or who you'll be reborn as – be it an ant or some other kind of a bug or, if you're really lucky, a human. One may be reborn even as a tree or a leaf, making you a rather insignificant (actually that part is completely dependent on how your existence affects the circle of life) to be worth of telling one's story.

Some might count me as lucky to be reborn, again, as a human – if only.

From my view, I think that I would've preferred to be either sent directly to hell or be reborn as a fly, instead of landing myself as an older sister of Konoha's Green Beast, Maito Gai – something I never dreamed to happening, not even in my wildest dreams.

The minute I realized, who exactly I was now, I had let out a rather loud protest…erm, correction: _wail._

Effectively startling both of my new parents, midwife and nurses crowding the room; it took them a while to get me calmed down enough so I could hear them babbling on and on about how beautiful I was thus I shouldn't cry as it didn't fit me. I could hear my new mother whispering me how everything's alright (I think that my mom actually remarked how dad must have freaked me out with his horrible green jumpsuit, much for his personal horror and nurses amusement; I won't lie – that _was _one of the reasons of my protest).

And a huge part of me _had _to agree with my new apparent mother.

I was thoroughly _horrified _at the sight of it and that forehead protector my new dad was proudly wearing, it was at this moment on that I fully understood where exactly I had been reborn into.

_Naruto _damn _Universe._

At that moment I seriously wanted to die, I mean, it wasn't the fact that I knew my parents were going to be dead in the next few decades or so, but more like I _knew _what was going to happen in the future ad how things were going to turn out for characters.

Okay, maybe I indeed had a problem with the universe God had decided to bring me into.

"What are you going to name her?" Midwife's voice instantly decreased my continuing wailing, making me to blink and turn to stare at my new proud-looking parents.

The two shared a look, mother was smiling and father nodded.

"Kei," mother answered with such happiness in her voice that even I could feel it, and I tilted my head (or at least attempted to do so).

"Her name is Maito Kei," dad finished for her, gently patting my head in the process.

I think that my face paled at the revelation, correction: confirmation of what kind of role _I _was going to play here; of what kind of sibling I was going to have in the future, since _Gai _couldn't have been_ my _son and dad looked a lot like Maito Dai from manga series. However, I had no idea of _who _my mother was, manga said nothing about what happened to her.

"That's a lovely name," one of the nurses cooed, midwife nodded in agreement, attempting to look cute.

Dad laughed, sheepishly, "We had decided her name the moment we found out that Noriko was pregnant with a girl," he explained, carefully taking me from mom's warm and comfortable arms.

"If the child turned out to be a boy, we would've named the child _Gai_," _huuuh? _

"We can still name our next child if it's a boy, Noriko," dad commented, gently patting my nose as he couldn't take his eyes off of me.

…Instead, of heaven, I've found myself to be in a 'youthful' hell!


	2. Maito Family

**Thousand Miles from Home**

**Description: **

Being reborn as Maito Gai's older sister was something no one should ever look forward to, and I certainly didn't, however, here I am – attempting to survive my new personal hell as his beloved older sister. Oh God, why couldn't you just have sent me directly to hell?

[No official pairing as of yet, follows plot-line from Manga and Anime]

**Chapter 2: **_Maito Family_

I _was_ right about the 'youthful' hell part.

As time passed, I started to realize after whom exactly Gai took, not that it was all that hard to do so, and that's our dad, Maito Dai. Both of them – my dad and little brother often managed to freak me out, whenever _this _happened mom would attempt to skin the males in our family alive.

Come to think of it, there was a case, when I was three years old, and Gai had recently turned a year old…dad had attempted to get me to wear his favorite green _bloody _jumpsuit – the end result?

Three years old me had paled and stared at it with a rather horrified expression, before letting out a blood curling scream (which had apparently alerted several of Shinobi and civilians around our home compound, making them to run over only to froze at the strange scene; and dad had been at complete loss of what he did wrong), after which I promptly fainted.

Yup, you heard it correctly – my mind was scarred at the sight and memory of what I remembered from Naruto anime series…something about my brother having gotten Sai to wear it (even if it was in anime omake) and that looked…_bloody horrifying. _And several of other things that I remembered my little brother and Rock Lee having done while in this get up.

Consequence?

Dad was, literally, banned by Hokage, high ranked Shinobi and mom to _ever _offer it to me again (which resulted a rather interesting reaction from dad). I still keep shuddering, whenever I remember the situation.

Every. Single. Time.

However, despite of dad's…strangeness, he is the one I remember and love the most from my childhood, and occasionally mom. Even when I turned an adult, I'm not exactly sure what happened between mom and dad, but at one point she left us. Like _just took her stuff and left. _

Leaving a four years old Gai, depressed dad and six years old me to tend for ourselves; occasionally I _did _catch a sight of mom walking in the Konoha streets, only for her to have disappeared the moment I took a good look or sought her out. Dad was the one, who was crushed the most, despite of acting he wasn't. The jibes his colleagues sent on his way were slowly becoming worse than they already were due to fact of him _still _being a Genin despite of his age.

I remember how I would team up (or rather bring no youthful spouting little brother forcibly with me) with Gai and attempt to cheer dad up – pretending that we were a complete and happy family, which we weren't. Not anymore.

(By the time I turned twenty five, mom's face and voice had blurred from my memories completely, erasing her existence from my life. I only later heard from Iruka that she had been killed on the day Kyubi attacked along with her new husband – I felt betrayed by hearing that and refused to even see her body – only her daughter survived, whom I refuse to have anything to do with.)

In other words, Maito family was one hella complicated one of which I, unfortunately, was a part of.

Add dad's and Gai's malfunctioned Chakra-system diagnosis in, and my perfectly well-developed one – you should get the picture. I faintly remember dad's joyous reaction, when they – mom and dad – were told that I'd have no problem in entering and graduating from the Academy, that I might become an excellent Shinobi if I so chose to do (it was more than _implied _considering I was born in an era of the Great Third Shinobi War and Konoha needed _all _tools they could use to win the war).

Mom hadn't been happy about that, and I guess this was why she started to dote more on Gai, while dad was the opposite. He loved _both _of us dearly, even going as far as to train Gai in taijutsu, when he first failed his Academy entrance test (that was the first day we officially met Hatake Sakumo and his son, Kakashi – it was also the very first day I started to think just how much my existence in Naruto universe would change the designed future); despite of the fact that I didn't need to be specifically taught as I had entered the Academy as soon as it was possible (age _five_), dad included me in.

I _was _forced to go along with that…hellish training, whenever my schedule allowed it, sometimes dad would make me be late to my classes (or after graduating from the Academy within a year and a few months, late for my missions, which pissed the hell out of my team-mates and Inoichi-sensei merely shook his head, seemingly knowing well enough what kind of family I have).

Wake up time: sometimes in the middle of night, an hour after having fallen asleep, during an ungodly morning hours and sometimes he wouldn't let us even _sleep_…

By the end of each day, I was…tired, all of my muscles hurt and after my first training day, I had refused to move at all. Too weak to even get up, until dad _literally _shoved me out of the window on the second floor.

I still haven't forgiven him for that act, no matter how much time has passed.


	3. Decision edited

**Thousand Miles from Home**

**Description: **

Being reborn as Maito Gai's older sister was something no one should ever look forward to, and I certainly didn't, however, here I am – attempting to survive my new personal hell as his beloved older sister. Oh God, why couldn't you just have sent me directly to hell?

[Final pairing decided, follows plot-line from Manga and Anime]

**Chapter 3: **_Decision_

"No."

A pout, and failed puppy eyes.

"Absolutely _no,_" I crossed my arms, and I was doing my best in avoiding looking into my little brother's eyes, who at that time was almost four years old, and I was almost six.

"Please, nee-chan?!"

I sighed, feeling the need to strangle someone whom I call my _father – dad – _for making Gai a little copy of himself.

The day had started out well with me being in the Academy, having received the news of my early graduation if I passed the test along with several of other students, who were doing well enough to be sent to the front-lines. However, when I arrived home to find no dad and my little brother, who was waiting for me to get my permission to join dad's _hellish _training schedule – so far, I had managed to weasel my way out of it by using Academy as an excuse.

"I've got a graduation test to prepare for," I responded, finally staring blankly down at my little brother, who failed to understand the point of my words, at least right now. "I cannot waste time with dad's _hellish _training that is if I want to pass."

That, however, wasn't my only reason of refusal.

I _refused _to be part of dad's antics, and later be ridiculed for it. There already was a group of kids at Academy, who decided to bully me, whenever they got a chance, for my dad being an eternal Genin and his weirdness. Well, they _attempted _to do so, only to be reminded that I was one of the top students for a reason (and oh, with a reincarnated mind, not that they knew that).

To be honest, it _was _kind of amusing to see kid's at my age (seeing as I really considered myself older than I was in this world, due to my reincarnated inner-self, not that I knew its age or anything about It) to be yelled at our Chunin teachers about the importance of teamwork and respect, about how one could easily lose a life in the war if we couldn't get on.

Oh, well.

It's not like I wanted to have anything to do with them either, no matter how good they _thought _they were. There were times, when I would catch a Chunin or one of Academy brats sneering (or bullying) my family members, effectively pissing me off, despite of dad saying that they were just being _kind _in their own way.

That they _don't _mean what they said, something that frustrated the hell out of both me and Gai, there was a case when my little brother almost ended up in a hospital due to Chunins mocking our dad. The only reason he didn't, was due to my unexpected presence as I somehow managed to kick the bastards away from my little brother.

I think that it was at that moment, when I realized that my specialty would be Chakra control.

"It could be fun, nee-chan?"

I huffed at my _foolish little brother _(the term I loved to steal from Itachi, something that effectively annoyed Gai and amused dad), noticing dad to be sitting behind the kitchen table as he read newspaper.

Mom (who was still with us then) was cooking breakfast as I readied myself for another Academy day, presently checking my bag if I had everything with me or not. I knew that mom, from her stiff form, would never fully approve of her children having the possibility of being thrust into the war.

She didn't mind us being Shinobi, it was the matter of war itself.

Few came back, and those who _did _were never the same again.

Including me in a few years later, and my little brother.

"Gai," mom spoke up, stirring the soup she was cooking for my little brother as I already had my lunch, making the kid to look at her with sheepish expression. "Your nee-chan is busy at Academy," she didn't look at us, not even once. "You want her to graduate and become a Genin like your dad, don't you?"

_A Genin like your dad, _at that time I was glad that Gai hadn't caught the tone she used as she said that, but I was more than certain that dad had. I was always closer to dad than to mom, something that I didn't fully mind. In my previous life, I hadn't had a mother figure, and it would seem that this life was the same.

I guess that it was at this moment, when I should've expected mom to eventually leave, however, I refused to think anything more of mom's bittersweet remarks as I did at the moment.

Too afraid to discover what she was truly thinking, when we weren't looking at her.

I was cut off with a hug from Gai, making me to yelp from surprise as the kid exclaimed how I wouldn't need to become strong enough to protect our family as _he _would do it in my stead, at which I snorted.

"Brat," I poked his forehead, making Gai to scowl at me. "It's the duty of an _older _sibling to protect the younger one, not the other way around, _baka!_"

Gai with wide eyes, protested, "But it's a man's job to protect their precious ones, dad said so!"

I couldn't help but to chuckle, I could even hear mom doing the same, as he stuffed his cheeks, attempting to look _serious._

"But only, when they're _older _than girls or strong enough to do, which you aren't at the moment," I tried to reason, knowing perfectly well how strong my little brother was going to become in the future.

However, all of that wouldn't happen without…I couldn't help but to glance at dad with sad, knowing eyes of his future. I wanted to do nothing more than to scream – than to tell dad and our present Hokage of their fates in hopes of saving those I still could.

"To do that, Gai," dad spoke up, watching us with a clear amusement and somewhat proud look, putting down his newspaper. "You first need to graduate from the Academy, and then catch up with Kei."

…But I couldn't bring myself to do that.

I knew it was a selfish act for me to pick Gai over dad, to protect _my little brother _over everyone else – if the story continued the way it was planned, then I _knew _that Gai would live until the Fourth Shinobi War…what happens after that, I have no idea as my inner-self died before the story ended.

The mere thought of me being in a _fictional _story was absurd.

It hadn't hit me yet, and I refused to believe my inner-self's warnings of the future – of _It _pleading me to protect the world, no matter what kind of changes it would bring.

No.

Even if everything was true, I _needed _the story to play out the way it was meant to – I wasn't about to become a god and save everyone. It wasn't _my _duty, but that of Uzumaki Naruto's and Uchiha Sasuke's.

"Then, when that happens, nee-chan and I will become the strongest team, while completing the most difficult missions together!"

I guess that part of me died at his words, knowing that there would be no way out for Gai _not _to become a Shinobi, even if I wasn't planning on interfering with the story-plot.

.

* * *

.

My first word was _'dad',_ much for Maito Dai's joy, and mom's dismay as they had made bet about which one of them I would address first (not that they knew _I _knew it). I've always said I've had one hella family, and this only proves it.

My second and third words were _'eternal genin'_, something I heard people saying about dad and it was also what I remembered from Naruto manga, much for the amusement of my parents friends. Nara Shikaku, Yamanaka Inoichi and Akimichi Choza never let it live down for as they were there to witness this and mom's complaining that at this rate I'll never learn who _she _is to me. At which I promptly called her _'mom'_, just to see her reaction – and a reaction I got.

She had stood there stunned, along with dad, for a few minutes before she snatched me from Choza's lap (at which I had baby-glared for as I loved messing – or playing – with his long red hair) and spun me around until I felt so dizzy that dad had to step in. I don't think I've ever seen her as happy as she was back then, maybe when Gai was born and his first word was mom (at which she smirked rather smugly, while beaming and boasting about it to dad and anyone else).

Gai was such a Momma's boy from what I remember thanks to the It-self.

It wasn't until I was around six months old that I got to see my own appearance, and boy…I was glad that I looked more like mom than dad, although that feeling disappeared after mom walked out on us. With a straight nose, auburn brown eyes, wavy bright blonde-yellowish hair, soft cheeks and feminine looking chin I was almost an exact copy of mom. The only difference was I had some black high-lights in my bright blonde-yellowish hair and a birthmark under my left eye.

Well, to make it up (I suppose) Gai was born as a carbon copy of dad, so we were balanced.

I was left handed, and Gai was right handed.

Mom was left handed, and dad was right handed.

I had never believed the saying _'boys take after fathers, girls after mothers' _until I was proven how much it can be truth. In my previous life, I had resembled more of my father than mother, and was never close to either of them, at least not after hitting puberty (I can rarely remember father being there for me, like first school day or simply taking me out or to shopping…just a few family outings on traditional holidays). However, my personality had been a mixture of both, which made me quite unpredictable – according to my mother at least.

As _Maito Kei, _however, I figured I would be taking after mom, only to be proven wrong, when she walked out on us. As Kei, I had decided to form my personality after the It-self, finding hers to be more _welcome _than dad's or mom's.

I wasn't fond of dad's habit of brushing snide remarks off by saying _'thank you for your consideration!', 'thank you for everything!'_ or just simply _'thank you!_' Quite frankly, whenever this happened, I would get pissed and refused to talk with dad before he started to make his own version of puppy-eyes (at which I was quite stunned to find an adult to stoop that low…oh well, my mental state was an adult as well, while physical body was decades younger, can't really say anything about it) and I gave in.

The first time I saw death was when two Kiri Shinobi at Jonin level had somehow managed to infiltrate Konoha, although they were quickly discovered by patrolling Chunin nearby, and I happened to be running errands for mom. I stood on the corner of a street, close to the civilian district, holding a bag of groceries and stared at the lifeless Shinobi from Konoha, surrounded by his own blood pool. Even now I'm uncertain as to how long I stood there and what got the Kiri's attention to me, all I know is that at one moment I'm standing there and another Namikaze Minato and Nara Shikaku were blocking the two enemy's attacks, while Yamanaka Inoichi was holding me securely.

I was numb from shock as the only death I had seen was through the It-self's memories of the funerals she'd attended – her grandmother's, cousin's and father's. She had seen more of death than I had.

She was more used to it than I was, which was rather ironic considering that I was in a world full of trained assassins and was expected to become one myself.

At that night, dad and mom never left my side, making certain I was alright as the guys, who rescued me were worried of my sanity. No three years old kid was supposed to witness death so early. At that night, _I_ refused to leave newborn Gai's side until I fell asleep.

It was the moment I was given a harsh wake-up call – the moment, when I realized just _where _I had been reborn into and _who _my little brother was going to become. I couldn't interfere with it, seeing as he would play an important role in defeating Uchiha Madara…as his taijutsu skills were high enough to injure a man known as God.

No.

My role in this would be protecting those I knew would one day save the world.

Nothing more, and nothing less.

No interference.

Unless the story wasn't going to turn out the way it was supposed to.

Only then would I step in.


	4. The It-self edited

**Thousand Miles from Home**

**Description: **

Being reborn as Maito Gai's older sister was something no one should ever look forward to, and I certainly didn't, however, here I am – attempting to survive my new personal hell as his beloved older sister. Oh God, why couldn't you just have sent me directly to hell?

[Final pairing decided, follows plot-line from Manga and Anime]

**Chapter 4: **_The-Itself_

In my past life, whenever I was bored or simply had nothing to do I would grab either my laptop or cell-phone and read some good fanfictions. For some weird reasons, most of them were about reincarnation or an original character falling into the _Naruto Universe_ (or another popular series universe)_, _something I now regretted in having fantasized of happening. It might have possibly something to do with how I ended up as Maito Gai's older sister.

And damn, the boy _was_ protective.

Annoyingly so, although I suspected that this part of his personality was something he took after dad, who attempted to scare off all guys, who dared to approach me. Not that there were many, considering who my family was. I knew that people thought of me to be a laughing stock in the Academy, having heard the 'whispers' about my family in general, and how I was doomed to be a failure.

How it would've been better if I didn't bother to graduate in the first place as it was obvious (to them) I was going to fail.

Hmph.

About that, I sure _did _show them just how wrong it was to judge a person because of their family by kicking the asses of those, who had mocked me (not literally…or I don't even know how to explain by having become _better _than they were in almost all fields I could – no, I wasn't the top student in my class, far from it). I never told dad or anyone about being bullied at the Academy, believing it to be none of their business and that it was something _I _would have to learn to deal on my own. The It-self had been in the similar situation, while alive and despite of her mother talking with the teacher, nothing changed – things only got worse if anything.

It-self hadn't had lots of friends, she had in fact preferred solitude over the company of people, who would eventually betray her….keeping only a handful of friends, she trusted with her everything, close to her. It was amongst of her handful of friends that the It-self met her husband – the one she left behind upon her death.

I grimaced every time I happened to see the flashbacks of the It-self's life in that strange world I didn't know.

How must she be feeling to have been reborn as me?

Doesn't she want to go back to home – back to her husband and child?

I didn't know the answers to those questions, not because I hadn't voiced them out but due to the It-self's silence. I didn't even know her _name_, everything I knew about her was thanks to the occasionally _mute_ flashbacks, disabling me from hearing the sounds from _her _world. I think that it was around the time I turned four, when I finally accepted the fact that I had a quite _evolved _inner-self residing in my mind and attempted to get to know her, instead of being rightfully scared shitless of her (as I suspected was she).

Only to be denied of such _privilege _with a cold shoulder from the very beginning, I would hear – from time to time – occasional curses as the It-self attempted to figure out what to do in this kind of situation. Also, she's the one from who I learned to curse at the age of three, much for my mom's horror and dad's amusement (well, the amusement part came after the initial shock of me saying _'motherfucker'_ and him denying of saying such an un-youthful word in front of his beloved daughter).

I had been trying to control my tongue around Gai, hoping for him to not to take my words literally as he liked to do and for his tongue not to become so…_inappropriate _as mine (according to mom). Apparently, the It-self had found it amusing if her chuckle hadn't betrayed it.


End file.
